Envision the Portland of Tomorrow

Creatives from Stumptown, Salt & Straw and Facebook share secrets at Design Week Portland.

Colors! Storytelling. Shapes! Graphic, industrial, or architectural? Branding. These are the words of design, and you will hear them often this week in fine dining establishments and big cubed cocktail bars all over town. Welcome to Design Week Portland. The expense accounts are cracked.

Main stage speakers wrapped up over the weekend, but a bevy of events and open houses unfolds across the city this week, focused primarily on design industry folks and freelancers scrabbling for tips on how to finally make it. There are, however, plenty of sessions and events open to the public. Here's what looks aesthetically pleasing.

Photo from Design Week Portland Photo from Design Week Portland

TUESDAY, APRIL 19

An Inside Look at Tanner Goods

2-5pm, 2336 N Randolph St.

[LEATHER] The leatherworking institution offer studio tours on the hour, allowing outsiders to finally peel back the secrets of leather like the worn tongue of a hiking boot you wish was a little bit easier to break in. Imagine: leather-based stories told over music played on leather instruments; workers, moving their leathery hands over leather; all the leather you could ever want to see in one place; yourself ensconced in leather, asking questions about leather.

THURSDAY, APRIL 21

Futurelandia: Envisioning the Portland of Tomorrow

6-9pm, Union / Pine, 525 SE Pine St

[CITY PLANNING] A time-bending crew of artists and civic leaders gather to discuss what's next for the Rose City. The Futurelandia exhibit will feature concept posters culled from 20 artists, alongside speakers from U of O, Uber, NAYA and Portland Parks. Sure to be hotly discussed: When are we going to add some new freeways?

99 Bottles of Art on the Wall

7-10pm, Baerlic Brewing Co., 2235 SE 11th Ave

[ART] Everyone's got a couple hop-related beer name they came up with in the shower, and this your chance to make your dreams reality. Draw your own 32 oz growler wrap with a permanent marker. Draw an animal, or a tree, or an anthropomorphic hop flower. Drink at the same time. Your time has come. Reach for the stars!

FRIDAY, APRIL 22

CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap

6-8:30pm, 3529 N Williams Ave

[FILM] Director Robin Houser will be on-hand screening her documentary, which examines the causes and effects of the overwhelming gender discrepancy in coding (only around 3% of American coders are women). No word yet on whether the event will be moderated or translated by a mansplainer.

SATURDAY, APRIL 23

AIA Portland Homes Tour

10am-4pm, various locales

[ARCHITECTURE] See some sweet-ass homes. Saturday's tour covers a cross section of housing options showcasing the city's shifting landscape, and covers everything from micro-houses to mega-sized apartment blocks. Will there be sleek, modern lines. Hell yeah, there will!

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